Method of filling bicompartment collapsible tubes



Odi. 27, 1931. l N M. HQpKlNS 17,828,864

METHOD OF FILLING BICOMARTMENT COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed Feb. 20, 1923 5 Sheets-Sheet l N. M Hopkins Inven tar bf Atorney Oct. Z'Z, 1931K. N. M. HOPKINS 1,828,864

METHOD 0F FILLING BICOMPARTMENT COLLAPSIBLE TUBES Filed Feb. 20, 1923 3 Shemts--Sheef- 2 by ZZ Tizi u A orne] Oct. 27, 1931. N. M. HOPKINS METHOD OF FILLING BICOMPARTMENT COLLAPSIBLE TUBES 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed Feb. 20, 1923 Inventor Attorney N. M. Hoplc ins lll ill WMM mlululumln HHHNH .Hmm Wnulnmnuua MNHN JII'HHIIIHIIIIII. IMI www; mmwulwnm Hll ,l AUN11u31)stra.Tasl

'isnivI-L MoNno HOPKINS, or NEW Yonx, N."Y AssIGNon, vrn? MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, 'rol Patented Oct. 27, `1931A GIfLMoNr PRonUcrTscoaroaATioN v mi'rnonos FILLING BICOMPAMME'NT lc:oLLArsl-BLE,runas Application led February 20, 1923. Serial-lilo.620,284;l

fThis invention relates to methods of and apparatusrfor filling b'i-compartment co1- lapsibletubes, andy has for its object to provide an apparatusl and aprocedure which 4will' be more efficient in practice than those heretofore proposed. Y

With thesev and'other objects in v1eW,the

invention consists in the novel steps and com` binations 'of steps constituting the process, and in the noveiv pari-s and combinations of parts constituting the apparatus,.all as will be more fully hereinafter disclosed and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying `drawings i' forming a partof this specification in which like ynumerals designate like partsgin all ,the

n views :A

v over in certain particulars;

Figure 1 `1s a diagrammaticpartial-ly sectional view-'of an apparatus made in accordance with this invention;

- Figure 2 is a sectional vdetail view-of a modified methods of'filling this 'bi-compartnient tube; I t kFigure 7 `illustrates a further :modified form of procedure; and

' v FigureS is alstill further modifiedy method 'vof filling.bi-compartment collapsible tubes.

-Inv order that the precise invention may be thermore clearly understood, it is said: I have invented 'what is 'known as bi-compartment collapsible ltubes for holdinggtooth pastos,

face creams, shaving soaps, etc., which comprise inner and outer flexible containers, and

it has beenfound to constitute a problem to fillthe samebymachinery owing tothe very rflexible nature of the metal Vconstituting v`these tubes. 'Forexamplef a double fillinghead Vlike that disclosed in Figure 2 is employed, 'the'inner tubek oft-en fails to "maintain Aits proper vupright position inside the outer tube,

as indicated, and therefoiethe descent ofjthe r bifcompartment collapsible' tube that is filled lfillingr'headis lia-ble to crush the same. 5k

On thefother hand, 1 haverfoundby supek Vnow in use with the illustrated slight modifications, allas Willrnow be disclosed.

v Referringinore particularly to' Figure 1, vof the drawings, 1, and'2 indicate the usual 'Well vknown sprocket Wheels yused in icollapsi'- ble tube filling machines, `3 the shafts carrying said Wheels, 4 thefsprocket vchain-driven 65 by said wheels, 5 and ofthe holders for the tubes carried .by said chain, and 7 a portionf of the filling head vWith which the ordinary Well vknownfflling machines are provided..

According to Lthis invention, betweenveach pair of larger tube holders 5,1 secure a.

`Sina-ller ,tube holder -as shown, and in .the

larger holderslplace the largerouter tubes 8,. while l1n the smallerholders Iplace the smaller inner tubes 9. Through the member k7 I passthefilling tube 10and provide `the lends-of the same Iwith the filling nozzle 11 adapted to enter andpartially fill Vleach 'of the larger collapsible tubes 8 as theyare carried bythe conveyor chainfl underneath said .noz-

.zle,in the-usual-manner of filling single tubes. y

The nozzle 11 is supplied from the Well known filling machine proper (notshownythrough the flexible pipe 12 and .the amount of paste material deliveredfto .each tube 8 is governed lbythe Well known mechanism carried byfsaid machine. In th'esamel Way, tliefmember Tis lprovided With the smaller-filling tube 13 'fed` tubes 9 as theypass undersaidtube; 13 along and thenozzle 11 will enter/their respectivef collapsible `tubes`9 and 8 simultaneously and deliver the predetermined amount of'material inthe rmannerWellfknown. i

It Willbe understood that in the l.finished by this mechanism the inner tube 9 is centrally disposed inside the outer tube 8 as bestpillustrated at the left hand portion of Figure 1, and that when both tubes are filled the material in each tube occupies the positions shown. Therefore, in filling the tubes 8 the amount of material is so regulated and predetermined as to only partially fill said tubes 8 or say to Y about4(l% of their height so that when the oai filled inner tubes 9 are inserted 'inside the partially filled tubes 8, the material 16 in said tubes 8 will be displaced upwardly and around the inner tubes 9, to the end that the level of said material 16 will be, aboutthe,

same asis the level of the material 17 in the `tubes.9.` The filled tubes 9 may be insertedinto'the-partially filledtubes 8 by hand, or by other means, which form no partof this inventionj The material'inside the tubes 9 gives the walls of said tubes a rigidity which they do not havewhen empty, and therefore it is a comparatively easy matter to insert the said tubes 9 into the *partially` filled tubes 8 and to cause the supporting material 16 to surround the said tubes 9; and thusis a structure provided which can be easilyY manipulated by the well known machines now in use for rolling up or closing the `bottoms. Y18 and v19 of said tubes`8 and 9 respectively.

It will thus be seenthat by proceeding in `the manner above disclosed, all danger of eol- Ilapsin'g the inner tubes `9 by the descent of vthe' vinner filling tube() carriedby the filling head 21 illustrated in Figure 2, is avoided.

Coming to the somewhatmodified form of Athe invention illustrated in Figure 3, Vthe 4parts that are common to'Figure l have been given the same reference numerals and the larger tubes 8 are filled in the samemanner as are the'tubes 8 in Figure 1. On the other hand, instead of providing a filling tube-13 `for the smaller tube 9, a mandrel or plunger enters the inner tube 9, as will be clear from the left hand portion of Figure 3, and fills the same to a predetermined height as will be readily understood. In this manner, the open ends 18 and 19 of thelarger and smaller tubes Irespectively are left in such a condition that they can be readily rolled up by the usual mechanism (not shown) and the double tube -1thus closed. f Y

i VIn the still further modified form of theV *invention shown in Figure 4, the outer tube 8 is partially filled asabovedescribed but the vrmandrel 30 instead of beingshaped as is the ymandrel 25'is provided with a depending pin vIn the still further modified form of the procedure illustrated in Figures 5 and 6, the method is more like that followed in Figure 1. That is, the outer tube 8 is partially filled to a predetermined height as shown, whereupon a smaller inner tube 39 provided with `the nozzle 32 and the guide or supporting members 35 or may be filled in a separate holder 6. see Figure 1, whereupon it 1s relmoved by hand, or otherwise, from said holder 6 and inserted in the larger outer tube 8, whereupon the parts occupy the position shown in Figure 6, and are ready to have the open ends `18 and 19 closed in the usual manner.

In the still further modified form of the invention shown in Figure 7, the inner tube 39 is or ma he the same as that in the'previous figures, ut the cap of the outer tube 8 is partially unscrewed as shown so as to provide the passage 46 around Vthe nozzle 32 of the inner tube. In carrying out '-.he process in this instance the material 16 is first filled down through the inner tube 39 by any suitable means as for example the filling tube 13. After a predetermined amount of material 16 has thus passed down through the inner tube 39, out of its nozzle 32 and through the passage 46, into the inside of the outer tube 8,

then the material` 17 is filled downinto the inner tube 39 either through the same nozzle 13 or through a different nozzle 27, as may be desired. It is preferred, however, to move the bi-compartment tubes 8 and 9- from the first filling position under tube 13 to its second filling position under tube 27, and thus employ different nozzles fr filling the different materials 16 and 17 in their respective tubes.

In the still further modified form of the invention shown in F igure-8 the cap 45 is left screwed up in place on the outer tube 8 but the inner tube 39 is lifted somewhat as illustrated either by hand, or a suitable i means not shown, so as to provide a passage 48 and while this passage exists the material `16 is fed down through the inner tube 39,

procedure for filling the double collapsible tube, I first partially ll the outer tube 8 with a particular paste material lkto a predetermined extent, and thenfill a predetermined quantity of the material 17 (which generally differs from the material 16) intothe inner tube.v and thatl in all cases the inner ytube is centered inside the outer tube before the bicompartment tubes 8 and 9 are closed.

It is obvious that those skilled in the art may vary the details of procedure as well as the arrangement of parts, without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and therefore I do not wish to be limited to the above disclosure except as may be required by the claims.

Vhat is claimed is:

l. The process of assembling and filling bi-compartment collapsible tubes comprising inner and outer collapsible containers which consists in partially filling said outer container; filling said inner container; and inserting the filled inner cont-ainer in filled condition into the contents of the partially filled outer container through the bottom of' the lat-ter,and positioning the discharge openings of the inner and outer containers adjacent to each other whereby the contents of both containers may be discharged substantially together.

2. The process of filling bi-compartment collapsible tubes comprising inner and outer collapsible containers, which consists in kpartially filling `the outer containers while separated from the inner containers; simultaneously filling the inner containers; and inserting the Vfilled inner containers'into the partially filled outer containers so as to displace the contents of the latter, and positioning the discharge openings of the inner and outer containers adjacent to each other whereby the contents of both containersmay be discharged substantially together.

3. The process ofl filling and assembling bi-compartment collapsible tubes comprising inner and outer collapsible containers which includes filling to a predetermined extent the outer container through the bottom thereof when in inverted position, fillingthe inner container when disassembled from the outer container and subsequently inserting the inner container through the open bottom of the outer container to extend into the contents thereof into assembled position with said outer container with the discharge openings of both containers adjacent each other whereby the contents of both containers may be disch arged substantially together;

4. The process of filling and .assembling bi-compartmentv collapsibleV tubes comprising inner and outer collapsible containers whichincludes partially filling the outer container through the bottom thereof when in inverted f position, filling the inner container through the bottom thereof when disassembled from discharged substantially together and then closing the bottoms of Vsaid containers.

5. In an apparatus for filling plural compartment tubes comprising inner and outer containers including, in combination, a pair 'zeY of filling nozzles mounted in spaced relation I with yreference to each other and together constituting a unitary pair of nozzles, the nozzles of said pair being respectively positioned for selectively simultaneously filling different compartments of the container, a separate supply connection for each of said filling nozzles, and a pair of container supports mounted in spaced relation correspond- .ing to the spacing of said filling nozzles for respectively supporting inner and outer containers for simultaneous filling by said filling nozzles.

6. In an apparatus for filling plural compartment receptacles comprising inner and outer containers including, in combination, a pair of lling nozzles mounted in spaced relation with reference to each other and together constituting a unitary pair of'nozzles, the nozzles of said pairv being respectively positioned for selectively filling the inner and outer containers, 'a separate supply connection for each of said filling nozzles, a series of container supports mounted in pairs, the members of which yare spaced apart i corresponding to the spacing of said filling nozzles rfor respectively supporting inner and outer containers for simultaneous selective filling by said filling nozzles andi a movable carrier for supporting said container supports so asto successively bring inner and outer containers supported by said pairs of supports into alignment selectively with the respective filling nozzles.

7. The process of assembling and filling v plural compartment collapsible tubes com-I Aprising an inner collapsible tube adapted to NEVIL MONROE HGPKINS. 

